Chapter Text
December, 1985:
“Wayne, can I talk to you about something?”
It was the night Steve showed up to The Hideout to see Eddie perform - the night Steve had asked the question that changed everything.
What if I was queer?
Up until then, Eddie had never entertained the possibility. It’s why he hadn’t fully accepted he was catching feelings, despite occasional glances at Steve’s ass or nights he stayed up thinking about when he’d see Steve next.
But Steve had shown up, and he’d laid his cards on the table, and now the ball was in Eddie’s court. The thing was, Eddie sucked at sports. Like, all sports, famously. He was far too gangly, his reflexes slow from years of smoking weed. Eddie didn’t really get sports, and Steve was one of the people that did. So this whole thing kinda felt moot.
There was no way things would work out. And if there was, there was no way Eddie would get through without his heart being broken.
So yeah. Eddie wouldn’t be able to make any moves until he told someone, and it had been late, and Wayne was there. Eddie could trust Wayne. It was just that … they didn’t usually talk about things like this. Feelings and whatnot. Certain topics were off the table completely, mainly Eddie’s parents.
“What’s going on, kid?” Wayne asked.
Eddie took a deep breath.
“I have a thing for someone,” he explained. “And I think they might have a thing for me.”
Eddie’s use of they was obviously intentional, but irrelevant. Because people tended not to think about that sort of thing, they just assumed regardless.
“Oh? Well, tell me about her, then,” Wayne replied.
See? Assumptions, assumptions. Eddie had always kind of wondered if Wayne picked up on Eddie’s interest in guys. Al Munson sure did. He clocked Eddie’s sexuality before anyone else, and it was not met with support and kindness, that was for damn sure.
So, Eddie never told Wayne. He sort of just hoped he’d never have to. That it would be another unspoken understanding between them.
“Yeah, well, uh, that’s the thing,” Eddie responded, shaking. “It’s not, uh … it’s not.”
This would change everything, for better or for worse.
“Not what?” Wayne asked.
Another breath. “A girl,” he admitted.
Eddie wanted to close his eyes and brace himself for whatever reaction he was about to endure, but the room stayed quiet, nothing but the soft hum of the TV playing behind him.
Wayne’s face didn’t change as he processed the news. But Eddie could tell he was thinking. About what, he wasn’t sure.
“First things first,” Wayne began, “I couldn’t give a rat’s ass who you love, boy or girl. Just to make that clear.”
Eddie felt his chest spasm, almost like he was about to sob with relief.
“Thanks,” he choked out.
Wayne waved him off. “You’re my boy, and a goddamn hellraiser at that. I’ve stuck with ya through worse.”
Eddie cracked a smile. It was true, he’d put his uncle through a lot. He hadn’t been an easy child, but then again - who could have expected him to be? Son of a dead woman and a criminal, all at the tender age of 15. Wayne had bailed Eddie out of trouble on more than one occasion. He always said he wouldn’t - that Eddie was on his own. But then without fail, Wayne was there.
Tonight was no exception.
“I just don’t know what to do,” Eddie said with a shrug.
“Well, this world ain’t built for folks like you,” Wayne replied. “So it’s gonna be a tough road.”
Eddie huffed. “Can’t be any worse than it already has been,” he noted.
Wayne considered this, his mouth twisting into a pensive frown. “Maybe so,” he said. “Is this boy you like worth it?”
Eddie would have probably been equally terrified had this been a girl - his main source of anxiety wasn’t even about being queer, it was having these kinds of feelings at all.
“I dunno,” Eddie answered, tucking his hands under his crossed arms. “I mean, I’ve never - I just - I don’t know.”
Wayne nodded, solemnly. “You’re gonna do it,” he stated. “Consequences be damned.”
Eddie scoffed. “What?” he asked, confused. “Have you gone from Uncle to Oracle or something?”
Wayne chuckled, then shook his head. “I don’t know about that, boy,” he replied. “But it’s what your mother would do. That’s how I know.”
Eddie’s heart could only take so much, and this night had taken its toll. His eyes welled as he did his best to hold himself together. Not for Wayne’s sake, but for his own.
“Goddammit, Wayne,” Eddie muttered. “Why’d you have to go and bring her up?”
“‘Cause she was always better at this kind of thing than I ever will be,” Wayne responded.
It was true. In elementary school, Eddie would end up in tears more often than not. He was always a sensitive kid. His mom never made him feel bad about it, though. She just let him sign to her what was going on, held him, made it all feel less big.
Maybe this was supposed to be big, though. Maybe it was.
No, not maybe. It was.
“He’s deaf,” Eddie revealed. “The guy. He’s deaf. Well, he’s going deaf. I’ve been teaching him sign language.”
The corner of Wayne's mouth flickered upward into a smile, the one small detail making this all the more special. “Oh,” he said. “I see.”
Because, yeah. Steve was different.
Steve was worth it.
-
Eddie Munson fell in love with Steve Harrington the moment they kissed for the first time. That was just a fact. A pathetic one, but a real one. Up until that point, Eddie wasn’t even sure he could love someone like that. He knew he liked guys, he knew he liked Steve, against all odds, but he couldn’t put the pieces together in his head. Not when they’d flirted, or when they argued, or when they bonded during ASL lessons.
But when their lips met for the very first time in Eddie’s trailer, everything clicked into place, and so it was.
Eddie Munson loved Steve Harrington, simple as that. And yeah, he wasn’t gonna be up front about it, because that would have been crazy, but that was exactly the moment everything changed.
Then, Eddie got scared, as he often did, and he pushed Steve away. It didn’t take long for Eddie to run back though. Over time, when Eddie had the urge to run, he’d go a little less far each time, and come back a little quicker.
Steve being cursed was another moment that changed everything. Because Eddie no longer wanted to run. He’d done it. He’d conquered that demon.
And that meant that he’d do everything in his power to conquer this one, too.
There was a theory that right before you die, your life flashes before your eyes. Eddie heard about it once, somewhere. Him and Gareth had definitely talked about it while stoned - what they’d see, what mattered, who would be there.
When Steve went under, Eddie experienced something like that. Except it wasn’t memories, it was the possibility of a life together rapidly disappearing - the potential to miss out on everything they’d planned to do. No more of this special, perfect thing.
Eddie was fairly certain he wouldn’t survive that.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Dustin said, pacing the floor. “Everyone else had days before they - we were supposed to have more time.”
“Yeah, well we don’t,” Nancy snapped. “Now get moving!”
The group worked like a machine - Robin and Dustin got Steve’s bare feet in place, Max and Lucas held balloons to Steve’s body as Jane held Steve’s hand directly on the amplifier. Nancy and Mike cued up the song - Old Time Rock & Roll - that song from Risky Business that Steve liked mostly because he for sure had a crush on Tom Cruise. Poor taste in men aside, the song admittedly kicked ass.
Except that Steve’s eyes were still glazed over. It wasn’t working.
“Louder,” Eddie commanded, his hands frozen on his guitar. Nancy turned up the music, to no avail. He tried following along with the chords, strumming and sweating, and nothing. He wasn’t even sure he was playing the right notes, couldn’t tell if he was even playing the right song - couldn’t hear, couldn’t see, couldn’t -
For a moment, Eddie wondered if maybe he’d gotten his hope all wrong. Maybe he was about to see his boyfriend die, and there was nothing he could do about it.
But then, that moment was over, and Eddie decided - fuck that.
He dropped his guitar with a thunk - an action he never would have dared to do in the past - and he trudged forward, leaving one life for another.
The last thing Steve saw before falling into the black was Dustin screaming. They’d been talking about nothing - some stupid arcade game - when suddenly Dustin’s face started melting and morphing, his mouth stretching open until it consumed the world around them - a screech, followed by the sound of bats, and then -
The darkness.
So, it was time, then. It was over.
Was it weird that Steve wasn’t really that scared? He was more sad than anything. Sad to be leaving people, sad that they’d be sad. He was scared that he wouldn’t be able to protect them anymore.
Anyway, as he looked around his new surroundings, noticing the bodies of Patrick, Freddie, and Jason around him, the sadness was all encompassing. It hurt.
Then, there was Barb - in no better shape than the others. Hargrove, his bloody body undulating until it disintegrated completely into a puddle. Steve almost went to get closer, but suddenly was constrained by vines that wrapped around his feet, arms, and finally his neck.
Is this what Jason’s last moments were like? And Billy’s?
Steve didn’t know why he’d responded differently - why him being cursed didn’t cause him to go all psycho and hurt people. But the important thing was, up until the very end - Steve never lost himself.
His hands started shaking - or maybe they were tingling? Vibrations traveled up his arms and legs and reverberated around his body. He figured it must have been delirium - oxygen deprivation from the vine tightening around his neck.
Was he dying? Was it happening? Why was it going so slowly?
“Just …” Steve croaked out. “Just do it already.”
He saw the sky circling with bats, a cloud of dust swirling and spiraling into something that may have been pretty had it not been so horrifying.
The world went silent and black, and he nearly felt himself drift away completely. For a second, nothing hurt.
Then suddenly, a sharp, burning pain in his chest. The vine around his neck loosened, the light returning around him ever so slightly. He coughed, angled his neck as best as he could to look down, choking on the vine against his esophagus.
But it was worth it, because he saw what was causing the pain.
A familiar hand had reached through the darkness and shoved itself against Steve’s sternum, metal rings digging against his collarbone. The knuckles and the pads of the fingertips were like a hot poker to his skin, but he didn’t care.
He didn’t care because he could feel the shape of Eddie’s hand, feel the middle and ring fingers tuck in such a way that three words were clear. Three words Steve had been waiting for. He could feel them being branded into his heart straight from the source, in the only way they knew how.
The sign - I-LOVE-YOU.
Steve could see him now - Eddie there in front of him. Only a foot away - barely any distance at all, the hand still carving into his chest.
Steve just had to break free and lean forward - that was all. His chest heaved, his throat sore as he screamed and used the last of his strength to tear one hand free, placing it over Eddie’s and curling his own middle and ring finger under Eddie’s palm. Settling one over the other.
I-LOVE-YOU.
There was more light, enough to show the others surrounding him - Robin, Dustin, Jane, Will, Nancy, Max, Lucas - all fighting with everything they had, all for him.
The last thing Steve saw before returning home was Eddie’s face inching closer, until his lips burned like the sun, and he was able to breathe once more.
-
Steve woke up with a gasp, completely tangled with Eddie, whose grip on Steve was not much lighter than how the vines felt.
But God, did it feel good to be back.
Eddie kissed Steve again, whispering something against his lips. Steve tasted salt that must have been coming from one or both of their eyes - he was so disoriented he couldn’t tell which. He still felt the burn, except now it was more of a glow. His head wasn’t pounding anymore, and he no longer felt the pull towards somewhere else - so Steve really did feel as though he was on the other side of things.
Eddie was still holding him, quietly sobbing into his neck. It was as if every feeling Eddie had experienced in the last few days exploded all at once, bursting like water from a broken dam. Steve hugged Eddie tighter, muttering into his ear. I’m okay. You saved me. It’s okay.
Steve looked around the room next and noticed that Kali, Sam, and the Byers family had joined the group - they must have arrived while Steve had been under.
Everyone stared back at him in shock, some in disbelief, some in horror. At first, he thought he somehow transformed into a demogorgon or something. Mike’s disgusted face certainly made it seem that way.
And then, Steve realized the real reason. He felt like an idiot for not thinking of it yet in the twenty seconds he'd been back, but alas.
The cat was out of the bag. Eddie was no longer Steve’s little secret.